New York Knicks: Fans Overlooking Raymond Felton's Play

There's no secret to the fact that the New York Knicks have finally turned things around.

After a near decade of obscurity issuing from a string of bad decisions, the team gutted itself in order to acquire the services of LeBron James, only to be spurned by the superstar. For once, though, the team made some good decisions to recover and as a result, they are making a playoff run. 

There are two key reasons for the turnaround. The first is the much publicized signing of MVP candidate Amar'e Stoudemire. His production has been key to the team's success and deservedly, he's poised to start for the Eastern Conference in the NBA All-Star game. 

The second reason has gotten far less publicity, but actually may be more significant to the Knicks' turnaround. That is the acquisition of new point guard Raymond Felton.

Felton is currently scoring 17.7 points, 8.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The improvement over last year's starting point guard, Chris Duhon, is immense.

Consider the difference in production as compared to the difference between Amar'e Stoudemire and former starter and star, David Lee. While there is slightly more total production from Stoudemire overall, there is nearly twice as much production from Felton over Duhon.

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Improvement
Raymond Felton	17.7	3.9	8.9	Chris Duhon	7.4	2.7	5.6	14.8
Amar'e Stoudemire	26.4	8.9	2.7	David Lee	20.2	11.7	3.6	1.5

This isn't to say that Felton is more important than Stoudemire, just that the player he was replacing just wasn't very productive. However, he may be more responsible for the Knicks' turnaround because, in filling that spot, the Knicks have gone from dud to stud.

The system that Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni uses is heavily point guard dependent and Felton is filling the role admirably. 

But Felton's contributions, significant as they are, have gone largely unnoticed, not only nationwide, but even locally.  He is currently seventh in voting—behind Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks—who has spent the last several weeks injured. 

So, this all leads to the point: Knicks fans should be embarrassed.

I have no idea why a town the size of Milwaukee would be outvoting the nation's largest city in All-Star voting for their favorite son. I don't advocate that Felton should be a starter, he shouldn't. But I do think that fans should be casting a certain number of "homer ballots" just to make sure their player gets in the game as a backup. Based on current voting, the Knicks' should-be-a-star point guard isn't going to make it in. 

He's not even getting the snub talk that people are concerned about the likes of Blake Griffin and Kevin Love getting. Raymond Felton is the fourth best guard in East behind Wade, Rose and Rondo, but he's barely getting any recognition, even from his home town.

Knicks fans need to start channeling that same energy for STAT being the MVP into getting their point guard into the All-Star game.

In a word, New York, "vote."